Autism
Links

Have you ever wondered what the
term "autism" or "autistic disorder" means?

Statistics currently indicate
that "1 in every 68
children in the U.S. are diagnosed with autism." (Source: CDC)

According to MSN Encarta, autism is a
“disorder that severely impairs development of a
person’s ability to communicate, interact with other people,
and maintain normal contact with the outside world.”

Wikipedia also states that autism "affects information processing
in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses
connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood."

The term is derived from the
Greek word autos, or “self.”

Autism is "often described as a
'puzzling' disorder " (PBS), which is represented by the
puzzle pieces on this page.

Autistic people also lack the
ability to imagine, or pretend with objects.

For example, a normal child will
see a sand bucket like a castle; but the autistic child would throw and
pour sand out of the bucket.

As a result, specific forms of
repetitive activities, habits, or specific interests are replaced.

Since Matthew is autistic,
knitting has become one of his favorite activities and specific
interests.

In fact, Matthew has taught
himself how to knit watching videos and reading books.

He now knits every day because it
calms him
and helps him to have a sense of achievement or accomplishment. He
always says after he finishes his project, "Look at this!" and
smiles.

Moreso, he has a desire to sell
his scarves on
the Internet in order to have an income to save and buy the things he
wants. In this way, his knitting motivates him to fulfill and learn
about financial goals.

If you would like to read more
about Matthew, please visit the "About Matt" page.

To learn
more about the causes,
symptoms, and treatments for autism, please visit the following links
below.